1. Field
The present invention relates to a system and method for establishing drivability target levels based on correlated subjective and objective data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, automobile drivability has been largely subjective. A driver would be allowed to drive an automobile and then be asked by an evaluator about how the automobile performed. For example, when asked about acceleration, a driver may describe an automobile's acceleration performance as hard, smooth, or sluggish. When asked about braking, a driver may describe an automobile's braking performance as hard, grabby, or soft. These subjective descriptions of various performance parameters were helpful to automobile designers and engineers. However, these descriptions were not correlated to actual performance parameters or driver inputs, making it difficult for automobile designers and engineers to refine automobile performance parameters and driver inputs based on the subjective feedback.
The automobile may also be separately evaluated to determine or quantify certain performance characteristics. For example, acceleration of an automobile may be evaluated based on the time it takes the automobile to reach 60 miles per hour (“mph”). However, these tests to quantify certain automobile performance characteristics were not necessarily indicative of an automobile's performance in real world driving conditions. Moreover, these tests are typically performed by a trained driver and were not designed to correlate with performance parameters experienced by a typical driver in real world driving conditions.
Thus, there is a need for systems and methods that establish drivability evaluation target levels and that are configured to correlate a driver's subjective evaluation of an automobile's performance with driver commands and resulting automobile responses.